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Wolfgang Ellenrieder (1959)

Wolfgang Ellenrieder, hailing from Munich, has mastered the art of camouflage and deception in his work. He skillfully lures the viewer astray, drawing upon a plethora of sources such as stock photography archives, the internet, brochures on model-making, and his own photographs, drawings, and watercolours. Through these varied mediums, he offers glimpses into our reality. However, this reality is intertwined and transformed into something entirely new, a game of interconnected media. With calculated closeness to our experiences and visual knowledge, Ellenrieder challenges the perceived security of our observation of images. Moreover, his paintings and photographs exemplify the power of the image in our modern age. This seductive art conceals the mechanisms and structures of our media-driven existence, while also provocatively questioning the role of images in politics, society, and culture in a subtle yet ironic tone.

www.ftn-books.com has currently the Kerber published PARALLEL book available.

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Jan Eric Visser (1962)

Jan Eric Visser (born 1962), a sculptor based in Rotterdam, is renowned for his meticulous creation of abstract sculptures, using inorganic household waste from his personal life. For over three decades, he has been exploring an ecologically-conscious aesthetic, honoring the resources of the earth and the cycle of nature and life. His works strive for a harmonious fusion of concept, material, and activism, challenging our contemporary understanding of existence and matter. The presence of his alluring pieces – in terms of texture, color, size, and form – is closely intertwined with the ethical principles of their production. His artistic practice can be viewed as a unique personal signature, evoking ideas of completion and impermanence, mystery and urgency, and the interconnection of art and life. In a world where haste and distractions abound, his captivating sculptures provide a sanctuary for contemplation and introspection.

Methodology

Visser’s sculptures are the outcome of a simple yet effective technique: he assembles waste materials and covers them with paper pulp made from waste paper. After saturating them with wax, often leftover from votive candles, and gently polishing them, the objects acquire a new identity. Although the forms are rarely predicted, this approach encourages an abundance of formal diversity. The discarded items from his own bin or randomly collected outside serve as the main source of inspiration, as the artwork seems to emerge from the waste, revealing itself to the artist. Visser humorously refers to this method as “Form Follows Garbage.” Constantly trying to keep pace with the rate at which his bin fills up, he views his sculptures as a continuous process, each one representing a unique “stage” along the way.

www.ftn-books.com has the 2007 Gorcums Museum catalog now available.

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Vali Myers (continued)

I have been on the look out for Vali Myers items since a long time and i did not even know the above poster existed. But yes….it exists and was publishewd on the occasion of a Myers exhibition by the Pter Stuyvesant Foundation and held at their Turmac venue. So this was practically an in-house exhibition and very few people must have known about it. Poster design by TOTAL DESIGN makes this a beautiful and highly collectable poster for the Vali Myers collector. Not cheap….only 1 available, but extremely scarce and in the best possible condition…..MINT

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Johan Meijerink (1948-2011)

The passing of Johan Meijerink in September 2011 left behind a body of work that is both beautiful and insular. The book “Johan Meijerink,” edited by Willie Stehouwer with design by Rick Vermeulen, presents the artist’s development in almost chronological order. The 159-page book contains numerous photos and three written contributions. The foreword, written by Olphaert den Otter, a fellow artist who worked in the same studio building as Johan, provides insight into the man. Art historian Jan van Adrichem explains the acquisition of three works for the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum during his time as city curator. Art critic Frits de Coninck closely analyzes the entire body of work and draws connections to potential influences.

Johan was a man of few words, a trait also evident in his work where balance was achieved through omission rather than addition. The majority of his sculptures, made of lead or bronze, hover between abstract and figurative. One might describe the works as contemplative, while the often humorous titles establish a connection to the world we live in.

Many of the photos in the book were taken by Johan himself. Pictures of artworks are interwoven with photos from his travels. They seem to serve as references to sources of inspiration, such as photos from Indonesia – the country where Johan was born and lived for ten years – or from Rome, where he spent a year.

Clearly, the book shows that Johan Meijerink sought the ideal of beauty in his autonomous works with their own identity. The sculptures speak for themselves; their silence can only be enhanced by the image.

www.ftn-books.com has several important publications on Meijerink now available.

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Thijs Wolzak (1965)

Thijs Wolzak (1965) has been working on an ever-expanding oeuvre since 1988, both commissioned and in independent projects. He proclaims to utilize all means at his disposal to meticulously control his images from top left to bottom right, but his approach is fundamentally documentary. His visuals encapsulate encounters: with a person, a place, or an object. They are typically intricate narrations, with a strong emphasis on the context of the subject at hand. Wolzak perfectly aligns with the school of staged documentary photography.

So, ‘encounters’. Every time, he would spend hours at their homes, trying to find the right angle. The interiors didn’t really interest him, he once said in an interview. It doesn’t matter to him how he lives himself: ‘I don’t need a certain environment to feel comfortable.’ During many photoshoots, he would often be left speechless when he saw how far people go in constructing their own space. What is astonishing or absurd to most viewers is completely natural to these residents. Their choices are the only logical ones for them.

With the exhibition on interiors and the encounters a magnificent has been published whichis now available at www.ftn-books.com

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Guus van Eck (1958)

The artist known as Guus van Eck, born in 1958, honed his craft at the renowned Kunstacademie in Maastricht and the esteemed Jan van Eyck Academie. Upon completing his studies, he departed from his native Netherlands and relocated to Italy. Van Eck boasts a distinctive and unconventional style of painting, characterized by openness, clarity, and vivid colors, with subtle yet intimate details sprinkled throughout. The exuberant scenes he creates never fail to capture one’s attention, with new movements, elements, and surprises waiting to be uncovered.

www.ftn-books.com has now the KIJK!Look! book available.

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Stef Kreymborg (1953)

As a human writer, I delve into the intricacies, possibilities, and dynamics of masses and individuals. I shape this process by creating collections through individual elements, guided by rhythm, structure, and organization. The laws of nature, that wondrous fusion of order and infinite variation, serve as a great inspiration in all my works. From patterns in a sliced red cabbage, to the stripes of a zebra, to pomegranate seeds, to cloud formations, to a honeycomb, to sand ripples, to crystals, to a school of fish, to garden peas, to seashells on the beach, to birch forests, to flocks of birds, to leaves, all continue to emotionally move and captivate me.

Even people provide numerous inspiring collections: Tile floors, displayed fish in the market, full bookshelves, brick walls, stacks of linens, piled up vegetables and fruits, handwritten notes, skyscrapers, music scores, and road patterns. And what about crowds of people? The tension between uniformity and diversity, order and disorder, symmetry and asymmetry fascinates me. It is always a great surprise to see how one element can change the entire whole. On the surface, each part may seem similar to the others, but minimal shifts in color, shape, material, or rhythm can lead to great variation and movement.

I am captivated by the regular irregularity found in forms of growth, swarms, flights, herds, schools, and masses. As I continue to ponder, I ask myself: When does a living organism act as an individual and when is it considered part of a collective? Does the collective function as an individual as well? How does a tree or leaf behave alone or in the company of many others? How can one maintain their uniqueness in a collaborative effort? As part of my research into the individual aspect of people in a multitude, my fascination also extends to their life stories, behaviors, interactions, and collaborations.

www.ftn-books.com has now the 1992 new years wish multiple by Kreymborg available.

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Diego Rivera (1886-1957)

Diego Rivera, a striking presence in the realm of 20th-century art, was an active painter for fifty years from 1907 to 1957. Of Mexican origin, Rivera spent a substantial portion of his adult life not only in Europe and the United States, but in his hometown of Mexico City as well. Initially experimenting with Cubism before fully embracing Post-Impressionism, his distinct style and outlook are unmistakably his own. An ardent Marxist, he was deeply involved in politics and joined the Mexican Communist Party in 1922. In the 1930s, he opened his home in Mexico City to Russian exile Leon Trotsky and his wife. Living in tumultuous times and leading a tempestuous existence, Diego Rivera, renowned for his Marxist beliefs, remains a countercultural icon of the 20th century. Along with Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara and a select group of contemporaries, he has forged a lasting legacy in the world of art, continuously sparking the imagination and intellect.

www.ftn-books.com has several boos on Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo now available.

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Frank van der Salm (1964)

biography & cv

Frank van der Salm (1964)
Delft, The Netherlands

After studying Photography and Audio/Visual Design at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (1992), his main focus has been the Urban Landscape in it’s broadest sense. Over the years early influences of the New Topographics have evolved into a diverse oeuvre about the control of landscape, lack of space, infrastructural issues and the pressure on time and space in contemporary metropolises, reflecting our ways of communication and it’s speed.

Now that the world has developed from separate cities with local activities to one world of (re)-presentation, that is photography, video, film, internet, games, news and entertainment, reality exists in the images that represent it. Focussing on the specific vs. the ordinary and the original vs. the copy, his work elaborates on this medium’s dualistic position. Lately, attention has shifted to the new centers of economic power, resulting in projects next to but including the United States and Asia over the last couple of years. He’s also working with architects like OMA/Rem Koolhaas, Herzog & de Meuron and MVRDV and on infrastructural and cultural projects like the Atelier HSL. Working with professionals in other media has influenced increasing diversity in approaching the contemporary environment. Thus, ‘The City’ is created with an ‘imaginery status’ of reality, where ‘real’ images are remporary. This ‘real’ is part of Sim-City: a micro-cosmos of urban existence. The city and it’s images are real and unreal at the same time. 

His photoworks and videos are published widely and have been exhibitied in galleries and museums around the world, among which the Biennale of Venice, Italy (2001), Haunch of Venison, Zürich, CH (2005), Akinci Gallery, Amsterdam, NL (2009), and the Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam, NL. These works of art are collected around the world. 

www.ftn-books.com has currently the MULTIPLICITY publication by van der Salm available.

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Gerco de Ruiter (1961)

Gerco de Ruijter is a Rotterdam-based visual artist who delves into photography and film. In the late 1980s, he began utilizing unconventional tools such as kites, balloons, and fishing poles to capture images from a unique vantage point. In recent years, he has turned to Google Earth as a source, producing films like CROPS (2012) and Playground (2014). De Ruijter’s art pushes the boundaries of minimalism in presenting the landscape, yet managing to maintain its recognizability.

De Ruijter honed his craft at the Academy for Visual Arts in Rotterdam, graduating with distinction in 1993. His prolific career includes numerous solo and group exhibitions in the Netherlands and abroad, showcased in prestigious institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC, and The Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond. His work holds a permanent place in several important private and public collections.

www.ftn-books.com has several de Ruiter titles now avaiable